


Steve Rogers Ain't Afraid of No Ghost

by honorarystar



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AoU never happened, Background Relationships, First Kiss, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Post TWS, Sharing a Bed, super heroes get scared too, the avengers watch a horror movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-09
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-25 12:41:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4961038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honorarystar/pseuds/honorarystar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“What the fuck were you gonna do, Stevie, hit a ghost in the face with your fuckin’ shield?”</p><p>“How else am I supposed to fight a ghost?” Steve asked incredulously, “It’s probably the one thing they didn’t try in the movie!”</p><p>Steve realized that they were yelling at each other about fighting ghosts in the middle of the night in their underwear while Steve was standing on his bed, but their floor was soundproof so it’s not like they were gonna wake anybody up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Steve Rogers Ain't Afraid of No Ghost

The Avengers were sitting in Tony’s home theater room, it was meant to be another movie night. They started doing this as a way to help catch Steve and Bucky up on all the pop culture they’ve been missing out on. They started going chronologically, watching movies that they all felt were important through the decades, but then Clint and Tony got into an argument once about whether Steve and Bucky get to watch Star Trek or Star Wars first, and it turned into a big thing. Feelings were hurt, furniture was broken, and a new system was put into place where each week, one of the avengers got to choose a movie and that’s what they would watch. Eventually they realized that these nights are just as much for Thor as they are for the seniors, because he started bringing scientific documentaries that Jane had made him watch. And once he showed up with Mean Girls which they’re all pretty sure was Darcy’s idea.

But tonight was Natasha’s turn to pick, and Steve had found out early on that she has an…um…eccentric taste in movies. Clint and Tony were mostly showing them comedies, some action movies (Steve and Bucky both really liked the James Bond ones), Pepper had them watch some romantic movie one time. There had been a lot of tears that night. Bucky still gets sensitive about it. Something about how the old lady kept forgetting who her husband was at the end and everything that they had been through together. It was a little too relatable.

Natasha was not one for bringing romantic movies or comedies. She liked to watch artsy movies, sometimes foreign films where Steve had to read the subtitles because apparently he just isn’t fluent in as many languages as Bucky and Natasha. Go figure.

“So what are we watching tonight, Nat?” Steve stretched out one of his arms across the back of the couch he was sharing with Bucky, who leaned back at almost the same time.

“It’s called The Blair Witch Project,” she said with the most evil grin that Steve has ever seen on her, and that’s saying something.

There was a simultaneous groan from the rest of the room minus Thor, Steve, and Bucky.

“Dear God, you are a sadist,” Clint complained.

Natasha was still smiling about it, she always thought she was so damn funny. Sometimes she was. Steve was out of the loop on this one though.

“What is it?” Steve asked.

“Just about the scariest movie you could watch. Possibly scarier than anything you could imagine, Cap,” Tony secured himself between Pepper and Bruce, looking like he was gonna use them as protection.

Natasha and Clint were already throwing popcorn at each other and Thor looked like he was gearing himself up for a fight he was so excited. Probably because of the witches. That’s something he could probably get into.

Steve gave Bucky a look that meant ‘doubtful’ and told Tony, “I sincerely doubt it. You remember we fought in World War II, right? I’ve seen plenty of awful stuff in my time, I don’t think any of you could imagine.”

Famous last words.

* * *

 It didn’t take long for everyone to be practically jumping into each other’s laps, there was more than one person screeching when a branch moved on the screen, Tony refused to admit it was him. Eventually Bruce had to get up and leave because the movie was making his heart beat too quickly, which left Pepper to be Tony’s only protection, which she was very vocal about not being fair and that she wanted to use him as a human shield too.

Steve was extremely thankful that he and Bucky had claimed the love seat for themselves, and that he sat on Bucky’s left side, because he could grip the metal arm with all his strength without actually hurting him. That’s what friends are for, right?

* * *

 

After the movie they all dispersed to their separate floors, as usual, but not so usual was the hesitance for any of them to walk off by themselves. Pepper and Tony stuck to each other on their way to the elevator, probably going to Bruce’s room for the night. Natasha and Clint went off together and Steve could just imagine the two of them sleeping back to back with guns under their pillows. Thor, kind of unsurprisingly, didn’t appear to be shaken up at the end of the movie and had clapped Steve and Bucky on their backs before throwing himself out a window, on his way to Jane’s.

Steve and Bucky lived on the same floor, and Steve was grateful for that every day, but tonight he was thanking any and every deity he could imagine. They both had their fair share of nightmares given the circumstances of events that they’ve lived through. Insomnia was also something they had in common. When Bucky was first released from the hospital after Steve had found him again, they spent more nights on the couch together, reading, drawing, watching T.V., listening to music, or dicking around on the internet, than they spent in their respective bedrooms actually sleeping.

They’ve definitely gotten better at the whole “sleeping” thing, or lack thereof. For a while Bucky could only sleep if he was given sedatives, but because of the super-soldier serum, he had to be given so much of it to make him fall asleep, it affected his brain in a way that gave him even more nightmares. Bucky had decided on his own that he felt better without the medicine (and the nightmares if they were avoidable) and he would just sleep when he could, if he could. Now the only time they spend a whole night awake together is when one of them is woken up by night terrors or the time Steve found Bucky sleep walking in the kitchen. Whether it’s Steve or Bucky waking up, they will always wake the other one up and then they proceed to drink coffee and go work out or try bake cookies or just do any number of things to distract themselves from what happens behind their unconscious eyes.

Steve wasn’t really scared of having a nightmare about witches or rock formations, he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep at all if he’s being honest. The thought of being alone in his dark room was enough to make his heart beat faster and break out in a sweat.

In the elevator Steve tried to be as close to Bucky as possible. Not that they had ever been shy about being tactile with each other, and after a century of being separated they never hesitated to be more affectionate than some friends.

“So,” Steve attempted to sound as casual as possible, “They were all pretty scared, huh?”

“Ha, yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Stark cling to Pepper like that before,” Bucky smirked.

Steve grinned at the floor and tried to ignore the feeling of anxiety creeping over him as they got closer to their floor. He wanted to stay with Bucky tonight. Either stay up all night in the living room or going to the gym to work out through the adrenaline Steve was feeling from his fear of damned paranormal shit. But he also didn’t want to have to _ask_ Bucky to stay up with him if Bucky is completely unaffected by that dumb movie. Steve knew Bucky got less sleep than anyone else and he should get every little bit he can, Steve didn’t want to take that away from him.

Not to mention that Steve was the one who had said all that crap about not getting scared because of all his life experience blah blah blah. _You’re sooo brave, aren’t you? Totally not scared. It was a great idea to make sure everyone knew you couldn’t be scared by some movie,_ Steve thought, internally shaking his head at himself. Bucky used to always say that Steve’s pride would be his downfall, but he never included anything about mysterious witch legends. Stupid future.

The elevator doors opened in their living room. He was pretty sure he was subtle enough with his quick scope of the place before he stepped out that Bucky didn’t notice his paranoia. Not that Steve thought there were actual witches or ghosts or monsters or whatever in their apartment. But he was fighting aliens from another dimension about a week ago so who the fuck knows.

“Well, um, I guess I’ll see you in the morning then, yeah?” Bucky shifted from one foot to the other, restlessly.

“Oh, yeah, yep,” Steve smiled his ‘I’m fine, really, Buck’ smile. “Don’t let the bedbugs bite.” _What the fuck was that, you dope,_ Steve thought to himself.

Bucky kind of huffed a laugh and said, “Alright, g’night, punk,” Before he turned towards his room, leaving Steve alone.

Once Steve was in his bed, he didn’t know if he should face the window or the door and just settled for lying on his back. When he did sleep he usually kept his shield either by his bed or underneath it, but tonight he couldn’t help but keep it on his bed. Or on his arm. Covering his body.

His shield was his security blanket, shut up.

It felt like it should be morning already, but when Steve looked at the clock it had been a little over an hour. God damn it.

Everything felt more intense in the middle of the night. Everything was louder and scarier and Steve could _feel_ his pulse in every part of his body and he was too hot but he couldn’t take his blankets off because some stupid part of his brain was telling him that a hand will reach out and grab his leg if there isn’t a blanket there.

_You’re Captain fucking America. Stop being scared. There’s nothing to be scared of._

Then he heard footsteps outside his door.

Steve was out of bed with his shield ready to hit someone or something in the head as hard as possible before his door even opened.

“Jesus Christ, Bucky, you scared the shit out of me!” Steve put his shield down and took a deep breath.

“What the fuck were you gonna do, Stevie, hit a ghost in the face with your fuckin’ shield?”

“How else am I supposed to fight a ghost?” Steve asked incredulously, “It’s probably the one thing they didn’t try in the movie!”

Steve realized that they were yelling at each other about fighting ghosts in the middle of the night in their underwear while Steve was standing on his bed, but their floor was soundproof so it’s not like they were gonna wake anybody up. If the others ever fell asleep in the first place.

They stood there for a minute glaring stubbornly at each other before Bucky looked away and let his shoulders fall.

“Obviously you were freaked out by that dumb shit, too,” Bucky muttered, “And I cannot stay in that room by myself any longer.”

Steve felt his shoulders droop when he heard Bucky talk in that small voice that he’s probably only heard a few times.

“So could I sleep in here maybe?” Bucky looked up and Steve realized he was still standing on his bed. “I’m really tired and I just wanna sleep, but I don’t think I can by myself.”

Steve got down from his bed and stepped closer to his friend, “Yeah, Buck, I mean, I sure as hell won’t be able to sleep by myself tonight, if you couldn’t tell.”

Bucky smiled a little lopsidedly and said, “Yeah, you’ve got your defenses up, though, don’t you?”

Steve grinned and gestured towards his shield, “Captain America always has a plan.”

“And he’s apparently never gonna go down without a fight, either, even when he’s up against ghosts or witches.”

“Shut up and get in bed,” Steve rolled his eyes and climbed back under the covers on his side of the bed.

He assumed that they would stick to their own sides of the mattress, but he really should have known better about how much Bucky likes to cuddle, especially when he’s tired. So as soon as Bucky was under the covers he shoved his face in Steve’s neck and wrapped his arms around Steve’s torso.

Steve smiled and felt safer in Bucky’s arms than he ever has, despite the fact that he was pretty sure that witches were probably ready to kill him outside this room.

He wrapped his arms around Bucky’s shoulders and pressed his lips to the top of Bucky’s head.

“Did you just kiss me, you sap,” Steve could feel Bucky smile and his breath tickled his throat.

“I might have. You’re gonna give me beard burn, you know.”

“Oh I hope so,” Bucky rubbed his face even more against the skin of Steve’s neck, “I miss when you always had a beard, while we were camping around Germany and couldn’t shave.”

“You liked my beard?” Steve laughed.

“Yeah, it made you look rugged.”

“Now who’s the sap?”

Bucky made a face and moved up the bed so he could look at Steve’s face, touching their foreheads together.

“I was in my room freaking the fuck out for over an hour and now I can barely remember why the hell I was so scared of that movie,” Bucky whispered.

Steve spoke in a quiet voice, “Well I wasn’t scared for a little while because you were distracting me, but now I remembered that part where they were walking a—”

“Shut the fuck up don’t remind me,” Bucky put his hand over Steve’s mouth to keep him from continuing.

In that moment Steve was overwhelmed by affection for his best friend. To Steve, Bucky was home and safety and family and every kind of love he could imagine feeling for anyone, all wrapped in one person. This wasn’t the first time Bucky was the only one that could make Steve feel better and it wouldn’t be the last. He just needed Bucky to finally know how much Steve loves him and he couldn’t think of a better time than being in his bed in the middle of the night because they couldn’t sleep as a result of being scared out of the minds of a cheesy horror flick.

Steve licked Bucky's palm.

“Oh you fuckin—” Bucky pulled his hand away in mock disgust right before he was interrupted by Steve’s lips on his own.

Steve kissed him gently and just barely tasted his best friend’s mouth and it was without a doubt the best feeling he’s ever experienced. Steve has wondered what it would be like to kiss Bucky Barnes since 1941 and he never wanted to forget it.

He pulled back and looked at Bucky’s face, who looked a little shocked and so beautiful Steve wished he could take a picture. He settled for committing it to memory so he could draw it later.

“Steve,” Bucky reached out pulled Steve’s face back to his and kissed with a lot more urgency than the first time. “You’re such a fucking punk.”

“But I’m your punk,” Steve smiled and pressed his forehead against Bucky’s again.

Bucky shook his head fondly, “I can’t believe that took you ninety years.”

“Remind me to thank Natasha.”

“What the fuck for? I’m even more emotionally scarred than I already was,” Bucky frowned.

“Well, yeah, me too,” Steve shrugged, “But it got you into my bed.”

“You’re such a loser,” Bucky groaned and kissed Steve some more. They had some time to make up for.

* * *

 

Steve and Bucky spent the following day in their living room watching every horror movie they could, arguing about who would survive the longest in any of them. Bucky was sure that Steve would try to fight anything that moved and get himself killed immediately. Those arguments ended with kissing and Steve would never complain about getting to kiss his best friend.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> i'm a wimp who is terrified of horror movies and i needed super soldiers to be scared too and comfort each other
> 
> play with me on [tumblr](http://honorarystar.tumblr.com/) and [twitter!](https://twitter.com/neilminyard)


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